Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind.(Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last.(Friends of Israel Initiative)

A wee glimpse into the machinations that have ended 70 years of Australian bipartisan agreement on Israel with the Australian Labor Party's recent pronouncement that a future Labor government will recognise Palestinian statehood:

A small taste of the mindset of certain followers of Baroness Tonge, in a recent Facebook post of hers excoriating Jonathan Hoffman for his forthright pro-Israel activism, which resulted in the White Rocks Hotel in Hastings cancelling her talk scheduled for 24 January, a cancellation which has led to many slurs on the intrepid Zionist activist by furious enemies of Israel on that same thread:

Importantly, the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) demonstrating yet again why it's so dangerous, with, as I've mentioned before, its easily facilitated manipulation of impressionable UK schoolchildren:

..

From The Times of London (29 December):

'A Labour activist has been dismissed by the GMB union after claims that he accused Israel of “inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust”.

Pete Gregson, a union official at NHS Lothian, says that blog posts attacking “Israeli apartheid” and activities including signing a petition stating “Israel is a racist endeavour” were not antisemitic.

Mr Gregson says that he will fight the dismissal in court and challenge the accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, resisted calls to accept the IHRA definition for months because it could suppress legitimate criticism of Israel, but it was adopted as party policy in September.

The following month Labour started an investigation into Mr Gregson’s activities.

GMB Scotland said that it would never seek to suppress legitimate debate but said that Mr Gregson “did not adhere to the standards we would expect in taking forward any point for debate”.

Jim Lennox, its president, said: “The committee does find the materials you have written and promoted as being antisemitic in nature, not least accusing Israel of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. For ourunion, Holocaust denial or claiming the Holocaust was exaggerated is simply unacceptable.”

Mr Gregson was also rebuked for ignoring decisions and policies of GMB authorities, and circulating internal documents to the media.

Mr Lennox added: “You have acted against the best interests of the GMB, you have acted against policy and we believe your antisemitic comments are racist in nature.”

Mr Gregson has had his union benefits withdrawn and been suspended from holding office or taking part in any union business. The committee will urge the central executive council to permanently exclude Mr Gregson from the union.

Mr Gregson said: “I will appeal to the general secretary, but of course that will fail. Therefore it looks like to beat this it needs to go to court for a judicial review . . . The IHRA has never been tested properly in the courts.

“If we can beat this thing, we can stop anyone being expelled from Labour for saying Israel is racist, and stop people being sacked by public authorities or kicked out of college.”'

Meanwhile,

'More than 120 Jewish leaders from around the world attended the Conference on Countering Antisemitism and the Boycott of Israel held last week by the World Zionist Organization in collaboration with the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland.

The conference took place between December 14–16, 2018 and was held in central London for the second year in a row. Among the many participants were prominent community leaders, representatives of federations, community activists and students from 16 different countries.

The conference began with remarks by Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel and Chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland Paul Charney. They discussed various challenges facing Diaspora Jewry and how to combat Antisemitism.

Mr. Hagoel explained the need for Jewish education, the importance of studying the Hebrew language, and Israel’s relationship with the Diaspora. He stressed the obligation of reporting Antisemitic incidents to the proper authorities and heads of Jewish communities as part of the struggle against the phenomenon.

The conference unveiled the publication of an extensive survey conducted by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency which shows a growing trend of Antisemitism. “The most disconcerting to me,” said Hagoel, “is the continued failure to report incidents, whether verbal or physical Antisemitism or hatred of Israel. Almost 80% of respondents who said they were affected by Antisemitic attacks did not report the incidents to law enforcement authorities, local rabbis, communal leaders or family members. This alarming figure is a slippery slope as Antisemitism continues to rise and Jews continue to feel a lack of security,” he stated.

“We are witnessing a situation in which Mezuzahs on doorposts are being removed, not by Antisemites, but by the Jewish homeowners themselves for fear of identified as Jews. This is equally as concerning because it leads to loss of Jewish identity. Let us not bury our heads in the sand...."

Tuesday, 25 December 2018

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

President Trump should urgently enjoin the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) to condemn Hizballah and the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) following Israel’s discovery of four tunnels dug from Lebanon into Israel.

Trump is probably still smarting from the humiliating defeat – by the narrow margin of nine votes – of the American-sponsored Resolution at the UNGA condemning Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza for:

repeatedly firing rockets into Israel

using airborne incendiary devices

constructing military infrastructure, including tunnels to
infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas

Resubmitting the Resolution to the UNGA would determine whether those countries that voted:

against the Resolution (57),

abstained (33) or

did not vote (16)

will be prepared to change their morally-reprehensible decisions.

Hizballah and UNIFIL have to be made accountable for creating the
current dangerous threat to peace and security on the Israel-Lebanese
border in flagrant breach of international law and international
humanitarian law.

HR 3342 was unanimously adopted on 11 December following Congress finding:

(1) Human shields are civilians, prisoners
of war, and other non-combatants whose presence is designed to protect
combatants and military objects from attack, and the use of human
shields violates international law.(2) Throughout the 2006 conflict with the State of
Israel, Hizballah forces utilized human shields to protect themselves
from counterattacks by Israeli forces, including storing weapons inside
civilian homes and firing rockets from inside populated civilian areas.(3) Hizballah has rearmed to include an arsenal of over
150,000 missiles, and other destabilizing weapons provided by the Syrian
and Iranian governments, which are concealed in Shiite villages in
southern Lebanon, often beneath civilian infrastructure.(4) Hizballah is legally required to disarm under both
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) and the Taif
Agreement (1989).(5) Hizballah maintains an armed military force within
Lebanon’s sovereign territory in direct violation of United Nations
Security Council Resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), thus
preventing Lebanon from exerting its lawful control over its
internationally recognized borders.

UNIFIL has been clearly negligent – if not actually complicit – in allowing this simmering crisis to reach its boiling point.

“Based on UNIFIL’s independent assessment,
UNIFIL has so far confirmed the existence of all the four tunnels close
to the Blue Line in northern Israel.After further technical investigations conducted
independently in accordance with its mandate, UNIFIL at this stage can
confirm that two of the tunnels cross the Blue Line. These constitute
violations of UN Security Council resolution 1701.”

Assist the Lebanese armed forces in taking steps towards
the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an
area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of
the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL deployed in this area.

Assist the Government of Lebanon, at its request, in
securing its borders and other entry points to prevent the entry in
Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel.

Hizballah’s occupation of Lebanese sovereign territory and its
build-up of 150000 weapons of mass destruction have incontrovertibly
imperilled the civilian populations of both Israel and Lebanon.

UNIFIL’s failure to carry out its mandate calls for a special UN investigation.

Hamas must be expelled from Lebanon and those 150000 missiles
neutralised to prevent a Jewish-Arab humanitarian crisis of massive
proportions.

United Nations member-states must stand up and be counted.(Author’s note: The cartoon –
commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka
“Dry Bones” – one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators
– whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international
media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

Monday, 24 December 2018

"...we spend a vastly disproportionate amount of time on one of them," Nikki Haley tells the UN Security Council in her final, superb address to it regarding Israel and the Palestinian Arabs and prospects for a peace in which both sides prosper.

Saturday, 22 December 2018

On 21 December, until Sandra Watfa's stand-in begins to screech ear-assaulting invective against Israel, the Israel-haters from the Inminds seem to be doing a reasonable trade in handing out propaganda flyers against Israel to well-heeled shoppers outside De Beers in London's Bond Street.

But at least one passer-by gives the haters a dressing down. At the start of this video (thanks, Alex Seymour, for keeping the footage in) a man who clearly supports Israel (could he be an Israeli himself?) tells the demonisers exactly what he thinks of them.

Thursday, 20 December 2018

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

21
Nations that received almost $14 billion in US foreign aid in 2017
could become the key to unlocking the White House confrontation between
President Trump and Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer over
their refusal to commit the Democrats to authorizing Congress to commit
$5 billion immediately towards the construction of Trump’s border wall
to prevent illegal immigration into America.

Trump’s threatened Government shutdown by 21 December has been withdrawn as he seeks alternative sources of funding.

These
21 states were major players in humiliating Trump — when an American-sponsored resolution in the United Nations General Assembly seeking to
condemn Hamas and other militant groups for indiscriminately targeting
Israel’s predominantly Jewish civilian population since 2007 failed to
secure the required two-third’s majority earlier determined as necessary
for its passage.

Trump has warned on many occasions that those
who receive money from America — yet do not support America
diplomatically — stand to lose financially as a result.

Trump has already well and truly practised what he preached:

- Defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency of $360 million annually

- Withdrawing from UNESCO leaving it to fund the 22% of its budget lost as a result

- Calling on NATO countries to meet their agreed share of the NATO budget

- Cutting more than $200 million in funding the Palestine Liberation Organisation

Trump
has already ominously warned those countries that humiliated him on the
Hamas Resolution that they could be in the firing line for reductions
in their annual foreign aid as a result of not voting with America.

This
threat becomes increasingly more likely as the Democrats dig in their
heels and refuse to give the President the $5 billion he needs to build
the border wall — one of the president’s cardinal promises made in the
2016 election campaign that has been frustrated by the Democrats from
the day Trump became president.

Trump should be readily able
to determine how $5 billion of this $14 billion funding to these
recalcitrant states can be redirected to building the border wall.

Trump can also look at defunding:

- another 54 recipients of US aid that supported a two-thirds majority
vote being required on the Hamas resolution over America’s claim that a
simple majority only was necessary and

- an additional 36 similarly US-funded countries that voted against condemning Hamas on the actual motion

Jordan
and Egypt — in addition to not voting with America — apparently
continue to resist Trump’s efforts to replace the Palestine Liberation
Organisation in negotiations with Israel on Trump’s peace proposals.
Their aid could be substantially reduced by a clearly-piqued and very
angered Trump.

The ball is now well and truly in the Democrats' hands.

If
the president does not secure the border wall funding from Congress —
then those countries that humiliated Trump could well see their foreign
aid in 2019 slashed from their 2017 levels.

Trump is determined
to protect America against illegal immigration — and no one will be
allowed to stand in his way of making America great again.

(Author’s
note:The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by
Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”— one of Israel’s foremost political and
social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli
and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be
viewed at Drybonesblog)

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Following Australian Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison's distinctly underwhelming recent pronouncement that West Jerusalem is Israel's capital but the Aussie Embassy will be remaining in Tel Aviv until a peace deal is effected between Israel and Palestine, which can then have East Jerusalem as its capital, Senator Penny Wong, the Labour opposition's Shadow Foreign Minister (who if the polls are anything to go by may fairly soon find herself the real thing in a government headed by Bill Shorten) has moved a motion on the question of Israel's capital at Labour's party conference in Adelaide.

Supports the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders;

Calls on the next Labor Government to recognise Palestine as a state; and

Expects that this issue will be an important priority for the next Labor Government.

Calls the recognition of a Palestinian state as “an important priority for the next Labor government” providing Israel and Palestine recognise that they will live in peace and security.

Declared the senator:

“I want to acknowledge that the conflict between Israel and Palestine is an issue of great importance to many in our Party. It is of great importance because Labor is a friend of Israel. I am a friend of Israel.It is of great importance because Labor is a friend of the Palestinians. I am a friend of the Palestinians. It is of great importance because we, in Labor, not only deal with the world as it is, we seek to change it for the better.

And so all who have come to this debate do so in the hope of contributing to peace and to a just and lasting resolution of the conflict between these two peoples. I thank everyone for the manner in which they have engaged to propose this resolution – which I am confident reflects the collective view of this conference. This resolution makes clear the view of this conference is to continue to support the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders. And it recognises the desire of this conference to recognise Palestine as a state.

Labor has long supported, and continues to support, a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We support Israel’s right to exist within secure and recognised boundaries and the creation of a Palestinian state. We recognise that a just two-state resolution will require recognising the right of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples to live in peace and security. The hallmark of Labor’s approach has been our even-handedness, and our acceptance of the legitimate claims by both parties. Labor has been consistent in its approach to working towards the resolution of conflict between Palestine and Israel. We have been consistent in our criticism of actions that undermine progress.

The resort to violence or the use of disproportionate response. The construction of new settlements in areas that will become part of a future Palestinian State and the retrospective legalisation of settlements. Labor will continue to call on both sides of the conflict to refrain from any actions that hamper peaceful outcomes for both the Israeli and Palestinian people. And we will continue to ensure that any decision we take contributes to peaceful resolution of the conflict and to progress towards a two-state solution.

It is an approach, which until recently, had been largely bipartisan. But, in a shameful act five days before the Wentworth [a constituency with a large numbr of Jewish voters] by-election, Scott Morrison put his own domestic political interest before the national interest. He made a decision to junk longstanding bipartisan foreign policy in a cynical attempt to win votes. It was a desperate political tactic. It was a decision made against the longstanding advice of agencies, without Cabinet consideration, and without properly consulting Australia’s partners and allies.

Astonishingly, it was a decision made without consulting either the Israelis or the Palestinians themselves, whose agreement must be the foundation of any lasting peace. The result of the chaos and confusion has been clear. Mr Morrison has caused offence to some of our nearest neighbours, harmed Australia’s international reputation, and our nation’s interests. Ever since, the Prime Minister has been trying to escape the problem of his own creation.

It is a clear example of what happens when domestic politics is put before national interest. Unlike Scott Morrison and his Government, Labor in Government will take a responsible approach to our foreign policy. We will seek and consider the advice of our agencies. We will work with our partners and allies. We will always put the national interest first. This motion makes clear Labor’s commitment to progressing lasting peace and a two-state solution. It makes clear that it will be an important priority for the next Labor Government. As Labor’s Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, I commend the resolution to the conference."

Reacting to the resolution, the leaders of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry state:

“Whilst the ALP National Conference resolution falls a long way short of the immediate and unconditional recognition of a Palestinian State which some sections of the ALP have been advocating for several years, and will not be binding on any future Labor government, the tenor of resolutions passed at recent ALP conferences has been in that direction.

Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State can only act as a disincentive, rather than an encouragement, to Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations, in effect pre-empting the outcome of one of the key issues to be negotiated.

In contrast, recognising that Israel’s seat of government is located in the western part of Jerusalem, which is incontestably sovereign Israeli territory, does not in any way impact upon or pre-empt the future status of the contested eastern and other parts of the city captured by Israel in 1967. The ALP’s announcement that, in government, it would reverse Australia’s recent recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was therefore hasty and ill-advised.

The ALP National Conference resolution calling for recognition of a Palestinian State overlooks the reality that no Palestinian entity presently exists which meets even the most minimal of the legal and practical criteria for statehood – a government capable of exercising control over its people and territor, and delivering on international agreements.

To the ALP’s credit, and thanks to the leadership of ALP leader Bill Shorten, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and their colleagues Richard Marles, Mark Dreyfus, Mike Kelly and Michael Danby among others, the goal of a just and lasting two-state resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict remains embedded in the ALP policy platform, and this continues to represent the bipartisan consensus in Australia.

Nevertheless, it is a misguided approach by advocates of unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state to place the onus exclusively on Israel for the impasse in achieving a two-State resolution of the conflict, and does nothing to encourage the Palestinian leadership to remedy their obvious shortcomings and to act as a responsible government. Instead, it rewards them for their failures.

Further, Palestinian organisations have appalling records on the rights of women, LGBTIQ people and workers. The Hamas attitude towards Israel and its Jewish citizens is openly genocidal, as its notorious Charter makes all too clear.

We look forward to continuing to work constructively with Bill Shorten and his parliamentary colleagues to find ways by which Australia can contribute meaningfully to a two-State outcome, based on an honest understanding of the realities of the conflict in all their tragic complexity.

We look forward to continuing to work constructively with Bill Shorten and his parliamentary colleagues to find ways by which Australia can contribute meaningfully to a two-State outcome, based on an honest understanding of the realities of the conflict in all their tragic complexity.”

Sunday, 16 December 2018

Today's British Sunday Times reports that having approached Jeremy Corbyn with "a dossier" of antisemitic posts on social media by the Labour Party's senior organiser in the English West Midlands, a key swing area at general elections, Mohammed Yasin (pictured, with Jezza, at the party's national conference in September), Mr Yasin has been suspended from his position and an investigation launched.

His Twitter feed, now removed, suggests he was working for Labour when he made most of the posts.

Labour
has been riven by allegations of anti-semitism among members and
activists, but Yasin is believed to be the first paid member of staff to
be implicated."

According to the paper, Yasinin 2014wrote:

“US imperialism needs Israel to keep the masses permanently at war”, accusing the Jewish state of “genocide”.

In 2015, the paper claims, he

"shared a cartoon showing the BBC and CNN ignoring butchered
Palestinians while training their cameras on a crying baby with a Star
of David round its neck."

In 2016, it alleges, he shared a video on the“Rothschilds, the world’s most wicked and wealthiest family” and

'shared a post from the Lord Dreadnought site, headlined with a quote from the actor Mel Gibson, “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Attacking “Zionist madness”, the post showed two people laughing uproariously at the suggestion that anyone else could be to blame, in the line “when someone tells me it’s not the Jews”.'

He also allegedly shared a post headed “Why Israel is a problem”, which stated that

'“due to Holocaust propaganda” America had provided Israel with $233.7bn in aid and allowed it a nuclear arsenal. He shared a picture showing a rabbi next to the words: “Goyim [non-Jews] were born only to serve us. They have no place in the world — only to serve the people of Israel.”'

In 2017 he 'shared a post saying western governments had “lied about 9/11”.'

'Asked whether he denied sharing the posts, Yasin said: “I’m not aware. Before I make any comments I need to check.” Asked about the Mel Gibson post, he said: “I don’t agree with that.”

A Labour spokesman said: “We take all allegations seriously and fully investigate them in accordance with our rules and procedures.”'

Thursday, 13 December 2018

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

President Trump’s long-awaited peace plan to end the Arab-Jewish
conflict – slated for release by the end of January 2019 – could be
indefinitely shelved.

This possibility has emerged following the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) failing to pass an American-sponsored resolution A/73/L.42
(“Resolution”) – condemning Hamas and other militant organisations in
Gaza for indiscriminate attacks on Israel’s civilian population.

Protecting all civilian populations from the ravages of conflict and
war was turned on its head when the Resolution failed to attract a
two-thirds majority vote demanded by UN Arab-member states – rather than
a simple majority argued for by America which was lost by a narrow
margin of three votes.

The Resolution had sought to condemn Hamas – whose Covenant calls for the destruction of Israel – for the first time since Hamas was created in 1987.

The Resolution served as a barometer to measure whether 134 of the 193 UN members comprising the Group of 77 would
be prepared to support one pro-Israel humanitarian resolution being
passed to break the cycle of over 700 UNGA anti-Israel resolutions their
voting bloc had always guaranteed.

Only 35 possessed the moral
integrity to break ranks and support the Resolution, 32 abstained and 15
did not vote.

Trump was publicly humiliated – and Hamas considerably boosted – when the Resolution only mustered 87 votes “for”to 57 “against”– 9 votes less than the 96 required for its successful carriage.
41 of the 57 dissenting votes were cast by Islamic States of whom
only 6 – Azerbaijan, Egypt, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Senegal and Turkey –
maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. Solidarity with the Islamic
bloc took precedence over humanitarian concerns to protect Israel’s
civilian population under daily attack.

Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela do not have diplomatic relations with
Israel. America would have reasonably expected support for the
Resolution from some of the remaining 13.

Egypt and Jordan were the two Arab states Trump would have probably
been focusing on to replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)
in negotiations with Israel – after the PLO had made it clear on many occasions that it would not negotiate with Israel on Trump’s proposals under any circumstances.

Egypt and Jordan’s credentials as replacement negotiators were unique
– being the last two Arab states to respectively occupy Gaza and Judea
and Samaria (West Bank) between 1948 and 1967 – the specific territories
that Trump’s plan will address and whose sovereignty still remains
disputed between Arabs and Jews.

Egypt and Jordan’s dissenting votes are not what Trump would have
anticipated from these two major recipients of America’s generous
largesse. Their readiness to risk losing substantial foreign aid and
American protection rather than assist Trump in getting his Resolution
adopted is bad news for Trump. Without securing their prior agreement
to negotiate with Israel – Trump’s plan seems destined to never see the
light of day.

Other dissenting Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Oman also showed
their preparedness to risk losing ongoing American support rather than
white-ant the UN Islamic-voting bloc.
Trump’s United Nations ambassador – Nikki Haley – disclosed:

“The president called and he said, ‘Nikki
what happened?’ And I told him, and he goes, ‘Who do we need to get
upset at? Who do you want me to yell at? Who do we take their money
away?’” “I’m not gonna tell you what I told him,” she added.

Trump’s revenge on those 57 dissenting states will be but a small consolation prize if his “deal of the century” is prematurely trashed in the White House shredder.(Author’s note: The cartoon –
commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka
“Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators
– whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international
media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

Tuesday, 11 December 2018

Outside the London offices of CNN, with placards and recitation of "From the river, etc" reps of the anti-Israel Inminds organisation display their displeasure at CNN's sacking of political commentator Marc Lamont Hill at "the behest of the Israel Lobby" and demand his reinstatement.

In the absence of Inminds' public face Sandra Watfa and her usual sidekicks several Israel-haters take turns at the mike reading the prepared script, including (between 4:21 and 6:12) the woman of avowed Jewish background familiar to us owing to her frequent presence at demos demanding Israel's expulsion of FIFA, and a white-haired chap with the hint of a Scottish accent.

But the "star" speaker is a woman with a rant so raucous that it's no wonder that most folk pass swiftly by with hardly a glance at her and her buddies.

Sunday, 9 December 2018

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

December 6, 2018, marks the day the United Nations General Assembly
(“UNGA”) infamously sold its soul to evil by failing to agree on whether
a resolution condemning Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza
required two-thirds – or simple – majority vote.

December 6, 2018 also happened to be the first anniversary of
President Trump’s announcement of America’s recognition of Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital and the intended relocation of America’s Embassy from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

December 6, 2018 was also the fourth day of the eight-day Jewish
festival of Hanukkah marking the rededication during the second century
B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem following the Jews uprising
against their Greek-Syrian oppressors.

Demanding that Hamas and other militant actors, including
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, cease all provocative actions and violent
activity, including by using airborne incendiary devices;

Condemning the use of resources by Hamas in Gaza to construct
military infrastructure, including tunnels to infiltrate Israel and
equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas, when such resources
could be used to address the critical needs of the civilian population;

The UN’s Press Release sums up what occurred when the draft resolution came to a vote on 6 December:

“The representative of Kuwait,
speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said the situation in the Middle
East is directly linked to international peace and security. He
condemned Israeli policies that violate international humanitarian law
and the Charter of the United Nations and requested a vote to apply the
two‑thirds majority rule for the adoption of draft “L.42”.The representative of the United States said a
simple majority is required for adoption of the resolution. She called
for fairness in the United Nations and said action on the draft was
about “doing what is right”. “The General Assembly has never uttered a
word in any resolution about Hamas,” she said. The decision to adopt
the text by a two‑thirds majority is based on a desire to have the
resolution fail. She urged all States to vote against the motion.

The Assembly then voted to apply the two‑thirds majority requirement
by a very narrow simple majority margin of 75 in favour, 72 against,
with 26 abstentions.

Those favouring a two-thirds majority vote included 44 out of 56
Islamic States – whilst one (Albania) voted against, 5 abstained and 6
did not vote.

L 42 was then passed by the UNGA by 87 votes for, 57 against and 33
abstentions – but was declared lost because it had not secured the
two-thirds majority required.
The Islamic States had secured a three-vote procedural victory – setting a precedent that is bound to be attempted again.

Hamas and other militant groups remain free to engage in heinous
conduct found worthy of UN condemnation by a majority of UN member states.

The foundational basis of the UN – maintaining international peace
and security – has been flagrantly circumvented by the UNGA failing to
agree on how to run its own meetings.

Such is the depth of total irrelevance to which the UN has sunk.

(Author’s note: The cartoon –
commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka
“Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators
– whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international
media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

Saturday, 8 December 2018

Supporters of sacked CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill, a Temple University media studies academic, inveigh against Israel and its supporters.

In Philadelphia,

'About 100 people -- the majority there to champion the professor -- faced off under Temple’s Bell Tower as the sun began to set and a chill set in.

Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian American writer and political activist, led the pro-Hill students in a chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” before handing the microphone to students who declined to identify themselves.

“We’re here to support Marc Lamont Hill,” said Abulhawa. “Temple is threatening to dismiss him and trying to destroy his life. We’re here to show [Temple president Richard M.] Englert and the university trustees they can’t censor this faculty.”

Directly across the sidewalk, Steve Feldman, executive director of the Zionist Organization of America’s Philadelphia chapter, led an opposing chant that grew in intensity.

“Am Yisrael Chai,” the smaller group shouted. The Hebrew phrase loosely translates to “the nation of Israel lives.” Feldman and his group later launched into “The Star-Spangled Banner” in an attempt to drown out Hill’s supporters.'

"And the Zionists got hurt," the opening speaker on thevideo rants, while her followers repeat her pronouncements like kindergarten kids, including her"I'm hoping that this will be the beginningof a real fight against antisemitic, white supremacist Zionists."

To quote the uploader, MEMRI TV:

'On December 1, 2018, a pro-Palestine, anti-Zionist, and anti-CNN protest was held in New York City following CNN's firing of Marc Lamont Hill over comments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations.

Nancy Mansour, who is the founder of the pro-Palestinian organization "Existence is Resistance," said that the Zionists pressured CNN to fire Hill, and that she hopes this will be the beginning of a real fight against "anti-Semitic, white supremacist Zionists."

Zacharia Barghouti of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) said that the PYM recognizes that Israel cannot be a Jewish ethno-state and democratic simultaneously. Alexi Shalom from "In Our Lifetime – United for Palestine" said that Israel is not a state and that anti-Zionism is the fulfillment of the human rights of oppressed people all over the world.'

'Unfortunately, if you were to base your understanding of why CNN fired Hill on the international media coverage of the row, and tweets by Hill’s defenders, you’d come away with the false impression that he was let go merely for criticising Israel and calling for a “free Palestine.”

In fact, he was fired because his speech included a call for a future Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” and a thinly veiled justification for Palestinian terror.

Regarding the "river to the sea" comments, Hill denied that it was a call for Israel's destruction.

However, there is simply no question that, among Western pro-Palestinian activists and -- especially -- terror groups like Hamas, calling for a future Palestine “from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea” is code for the rejection of the continued existence of a Jewish state within any borders. In fact, Hill himself, in a recent tweet, acknowledged that he holds this view.' [Emphasis added]

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

December 6 marks the first anniversary of President Trump’s historic
and ground-breaking announcement to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s
capital and move the American Embassy to Jerusalem. President Trump’s
decision flew in the face of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 on 23
December 2016 reaffirming that:

“the establishment by Israel of
settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including
East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant
violation under international law and a major obstacle to the
achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace”

Article 6 of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations Charter conclusively
substantiate Israel is not in violation of international law in
reconstituting the Jewish National Home in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria
(West Bank), and designating Jerusalem as its capital.

The United
Nations General Assembly has yet again shown its total ignorance of
this long-established international law with its latest resolution on
Jerusalem on 30 November misleadingly declaring Israel’s actions in
Jerusalem “illegal and therefore null and void”.

The preamble to
the Jerusalem Embassy Act overwhelmingly passed by the United States
Senate (93-5) and the House (374-37) on 24 October 1995 sets out the
following facts that underscore the total lack of legal and moral
integrity of the United Nations:

1. Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own capital.

2. Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel.

3.
The city of Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s President, Parliament,
and Supreme Court, and the site of numerous government ministries and
social and cultural institutions.

4. The city of Jerusalem is the
spiritual center of Judaism, and is also considered a holy city by the
members of other religious faiths.

5. From 1948-1967, Jerusalem
was a divided city and Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish
citizens of all states were denied access to holy sites in the area
controlled by Jordan.

6. In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited during the conflict known as the Six Day War.

7.
Since 1967, Jerusalem has been a united city administered by Israel,
and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full access to
holy sites within the city.

8. The United States maintains its
embassy in the functioning capital of every country except in the case
of our democratic friend and strategic ally, the State of Israel.

9.
In 1996, the State of Israel will celebrate the 3,000th anniversary of
the Jewish presence in Jerusalem since King David’s entry.

The
United Nations - in discarding these inconvenient truths – has done the
cause of world peace a grave disservice whilst the groundwork for a
humanitarian disaster affecting both Arabs and Jews is being plotted by
the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

President Trump made it crystal clear that his decision was:

“not
intended, in any way, to reflect a departure from our strong commitment
to facilitate a lasting peace agreement. We want an agreement that is a
great deal for the Israelis and a great deal for the Palestinians. We
are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the
specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the
resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties
involved”.

Trump’s principled stand on Jerusalem is morally
justified and accords with international law. Guatemala has already
moved its Embassy to Jerusalem – Brazil is planning to follow.

The United Nations continues to ignore Trump’s message at its peril and to its eternal shame.

(Author’s
note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article – is by
Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” – one of Israel’s foremost political and
social commentators – whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog)

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

Not much political correctness here, just a whole lot of commonsense regarding "the anti-democratic globalists" and the road to population replacement and the end of nationhood wrought by forced mass immigration.

Sunday, 2 December 2018

To readers of this blog, and more generally, Sandra Watfa is probably the best-known public face of the anti-Israel Inminds group.

Her uncompromising sentiments are encapsulated, inter alia, in this recent post:

On 30 November Inminds projected a slide show onto the walls of the BBC's Broadcasting House in London, protesting the holding of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel.

Yes. Arch-BDSer Alex Seymour (aka Seymour Alexander) was, as usual, on hand to record the event (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHiA4MaPBfQ) 'Nearly 150 Artists, including Eurovision winners, judges and
broadcasters have all supported the Palestinian call to boycott the
Eurovision Song Contest 2019 if held in Israel' Inminds itself reports, and goes on to quote its chairman, Abbas Ali, as saying 'It's unacceptable that something as culturally prestigious as the
iconic Eurovision Song Contest, which is meant to bring people together
through music, is handed over to an apartheid regime ... We are here to
ask the BBC to serve its licence payers by taking a moral stand against
racism, and pull out of next years Eurovision if its held in Israel.' It reports, too, that

'The projection lasted over an hour during which time many passers by and BBC employees came to congratulate us for voicing their own concerns of how inappropriate it would be for the Eurovision to be hosted by Israel, and shameful for the BBC to support it.' [Emphasis added]

Terror Groups Eyeing Israel's Destruction from inside NGOs

Two stalwarts go sleuthing:

For their findings cliick on image

"The research suggests that antisemitism is the fuel that primes the PSC engine"

To read the research report click on image

'For as long as these antisemites wrap themselves up in the Palestinian flag, too many people are willing to turn a blind eye. Only against Jews is this type of racism openly tolerated. It is flourishing in schools, colleges, universities, unions and in city councils. In fact, so rampant is the disease now, in some settings you can be ostracised if you do not partake in the frenzy yourself. Bashing Jews has becomes a trendy position for the ignorant social justice warrior. "Palestinianism" is a viral "ponzi scheme" and as it spreads, it carries antisemitism in the undergrowth.' David Collier (2017)

'This new rise in antisemitism, which I had thought long dead, was not shaven-headed white imbeciles from the far right. It was Muslims, a large chunk of it.... Suddenly I grasped that the British far left didn’t want people to know about antisemitism because it pointed the finger at people they really, really liked. From that moment on, it all fell into place.... Time and again the same tropes emerged, the same sort of stuff that Streicher and Goebbels would have commended – and uttered.... And from that a whole bunch of other stuff emerged: the old blood libel business (a favourite of the repulsive Jenny Tonge).... Nice, avuncular, Jeremy Corbyn, with his peace badges, happily laying a wreath at the graveside of Palestinian terrorists who murdered innocent Jewish athletes, oh, and much much more.... It is the same antisemitism, exactly the same: the obsession with Israel to the exclusion of everything else, the conspiracy theory paranoias, the derangement.... Here’s the test – if you cannot see the flagrant racism in the BDS movement, and if you are obsessed with the perfidy of the Middle East’s only democracy to the exclusion of all else, you are an antisemite. That means a good proportion of the Labour Party, including the leader, and almost all of Momentum: no brown shirts, no marching bands, but the same old filth, dressed in the clothes of a polytechnic geography lecturer.'Rod Liddle (2018)

Pro-Israel Down Under

Shalom and Welcome to my blog!I'm the little Aussie blogger who took the screenshot and broke the story of Stephen Sizer's notorious 9/11 post, and I've since broken two other stories that subsequently went viral, one Australia-wide and one, thanks to the sterling work of two other bloggers, worldwide. I remain very surprised and very honoured to have been co-winner, Best Pro-Israel Blog, Hasby Awards, 2013Please "Like" me on Facebook; my Facebook page ishere

'In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel ... is different.... Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.... Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East.' Bibi Netanyahu (20 Iyar 5771; 24 May 2011)Scroll to end for more quotations

Tired of anti-Balfour agitprop?

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Balfour and Beyond

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Try this for Sizer

Sizer 101. Click image for link

'Before the June 1967 Six Day War, there were no such things as "settlements". Palestinians were trying to destroy and displace Israel anyhow. The core problem is not, and never was, "settlements," but the right of Israel (or any non-Muslim nation) to exist inside any borders in that part of the world.If you take a stand that is based on a lie, then that stand cannot succeed. If you try to oppose antisemitism but pretend it is the same thing as "Islamophobia," then the structure on which you have made your stand will totter and all your aspirations will fail. If you try to make a stand based on the idea that settlement construction rather than the intransigence of the Palestinians to the existence of a Jewish state is what is holding up a peace deal, then facts will keep on intruding.' Douglas Murray (31 December 2016)https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9685/britain-little-lies

BDS is Antisemitic

Click image to learn why

The Bigotry & Immorality of BDS

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'Islamophobia does NOT come from the same wellspring of hatred as antisemitism. Antisemitism is a true prejudice because the hatred and demonisation it promotes derive entirely from lies and a repudiation of rationality itself. Islamophobia is a false allegation of prejudice which is deployed to silence rational criticism based on actual facts about attitudes and practices within the Islamic world. [L]ethally compromised even-handedness is to misunderstand, and thus minimise, antisemitic attitudes and behaviour while shutting down legitimate and necessary discussion of the threat from the Islamic world – even to demonise as “Islamophobic” anyone who draws attention to the extent and consequences of Muslim antisemitism.' Melanie Phillips (14 December 2016)

"Selling a house to a Jew is a betrayal of Allah"

To read more click image

Maps of Mendacity & Mischief

Click image to learn why

These misleading maps were deliberately prepared to date from 1946 – intentionally papering over the momentous events that had occurred between 1917 and 1945. Attempts to unravel binding precepts of international law established between 1917 and 1945 – and failing to insist on their being upheld and enforced – has a lot to do with the sorry situation the world finds itself in today.David Singer (2016)

How They Twist the Truth!

Click image for more on the lies

Jews have re-assumed the role of the canary in the mine and are the first to be targeted, but the world would face the same threat if Jews did not exist. Israel has been at the front lines confronting Islamic extremism but has received scant support... For Jews, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. The virulence of the antisemitic hatred closing in on Jews in Europe (and elsewhere) is horrifying... Europe is today facing a crisis as serious as the confrontation with Nazism. If Western leaders continue behaving like Chamberlain and fail to stand up to this global threat, it could usher in a new Dark Age in which the Judeo-Christian culture is subsumed by primitive barbarism. The writing is on the wall Isi Leibler (12 January 2015)

Expose The Lies!

There is a war of lies and deceit on the internet generating unbelievable hate by denigrating and delegitimising the legal rights conferred on the Jewish people by the League of Nations in 1922 and the United Nations in 1945. The idea that there are two narratives on the Arab-Jewish conflict is rubbish. There is only one – the factual truth that details the return of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in its ancient biblical, ancestral and historic homeland after 3500 years of dispersion with the unanimous endorsement of the nation states then comprising the League of Nations.... Generals can’t fight a war without soldiers. Jews around the world need to join the fight or vacate the internet to the Jew-haters and their lies that repeated often enough eventually become accepted as truth.David Singer (2016)

Exposing Lies

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The "Apartheid" Slur

The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas “A”, “B” and “C” was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area “A”. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation – and subjugation – by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance. The narratives did not begin in 1948 – they began in about 1917. How do you make peace with an enemy that has been obsessed with not recognising any Jewish national rights in former Palestine for the last 100 years?David Singer (2016)

Telling the Truth

Click image for link

The Jews of the Holy Land ... are surrounded by hostile states 650 times their territory and sixty times their population. Yet their last, best hope of ending two millennia of international persecution - the State of Israel - has somehow survived. When, during the Second World War, the island of Malta came through three terrible years of bombardment and destruction, it was rightly awarded the George Cross for bravery. Today, Israel should be awarded a similar decoration for defending democracy, tolerance and Western values against a murderous onslaught that has lasted twenty times as long.Andrew Roberts (historian)

A voice of courage & reason

He knows, y'know

An Aussie demo against BDS

On the left, black people are usually allowed to define what’s racism; women can define sexism; Muslims are trusted to define Islamophobia. But when Jews call out something as antisemitic, leftist non-Jews feel curiously entitled to tell Jews they’re wrong, that they are exaggerating or lying or using it as a decoy tactic – and to then treat them to a long lecture on what anti-Jewish racism really is. Jonathan Freedland (The Guardian, 29 April 2016)

An awkward fact for some!

Socialist thought was tainted from its very origins with the heavy baggage of anti-Jewish stereotypes. Robert Wistrich, From Ambivalence to Betrayal:The Left, the Jews, and Israel (2012)

BDS hypocrisy!

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Want more?

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Israel is understandably obsessed with security, but its greatest security lies ultimately not in the Israeli Defence Forces, but in political warfare.... Most of the world is not deeply interested in what happens in Israel, and probably does not want to be deluged with legalistic defences of particular actions. What it wants is a clear, calm, repeated case. It is a case – aimed more at public opinion than at foreign ministries – about freedom, democracy, a Western way of life and the need for the whole of the free world to fight terrorism. Sometimes you hear Israelis say: “It doesn’t matter what we say. The whole world is against us.” You can see why they say it, for they are indeed unfairly treated. But when they say it, they are uttering a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they won’t say what needs saying, no one else will say it for them. Charles Moore (2010)

Once again the armies of the Arab nations are coordinating their military efforts to destroy Israel - whatever they say about wishing merely to regain the lost territories.... [I]f the present Arab offensive had been launched at the pre-1967 frontiers, then the Israelis would indeed have been fighting to avoid annihilation. It seems now that the Israelis were right to maintain the ceasefire lines gained in 1967, and that to do so is the only guarantee of their continued safety.Alan Sillitoe (The Times, 11 October 1973)

A nuclear Iran threatens our existence

Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam... In this deadly game of thrones, there’s no place for America or for Israel, no place for Christians, Jews or Muslims who don’t share the Islamist medieval creed, no rights for women, no freedom for anyone... [T]he greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We can’t let that happen...[T]he days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves....Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But ... I know that America stands with Israel... You stand with Israel, because you know that the story of Israel is not only the story of the Jewish people but of the human spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to history’s horrors. Bibi Netanyahu (12 Adar 5775; 3 March 2015)

The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions, of people, and there is no refugee problem.... [N]o one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.... Other nations - when they are defeated - survive and recover, but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.... [A]s it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us.Eric Hoffer (1968)

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אם תרצו , אין זו אגדה

Most of the present Arab countries were given their freedom after the 1914-18 War, or after the 1939-45 War.... Yet to listen to Arab spokesmen one might think that they had been cheated ... because they have not also got Israel. Israel is only .2 per cent of the land where Arab States have been established. Surely no fair-minded man can begrudge the Jews their own promised land when it is remembered that for every 2 acres that went to make up Israel, 1,000 acres became Arab.... Why is there an Arab refugee problem? The oil-rich countries have the money. There is no shortage of land, and the Israelis have the technical knowledge to show how it could be developed and made fertile. Bring those things together and the problem could be solved. 3rd Earl of Balfour (1968)

January 7, 2015 has already its place in the history of infamy, but also will be the date when the defenders of freedom and democracy will rise and pay tribute to those who died for their freedom and ours. Therefore, we must not forget on which side we are and who are our allies in the defense of the West and its values. Whether we admit it or not, the West is at war with an enemy who will not stop to destroy us...The State of Israel boasts a commandment that, in one of the darkest hours in the fight for liberty Winston Churchill taught: "Never give up". Israel has proven to be a key ally in the fight against Islamism and also an example of how a liberal democracy can resist the jihadist stake and thrive as a Western nation ... Not only France but also all the West should look to Israel to defeat Islamism...friendsofisraelinitiative.org

[I]t’s impossible to believe that an active antisemite wouldn’t – if only opportunistically – seek out somewhere to nestle in the manifold pleats of Israel-bashing, whether in generally diffuse anti-Zionism, or in more specific Boycott and Divestment Campaigns, Israeli Apartheid Weeks, End the Occupation movements and the like....[T]ell me that not a single Jew-hater finds the activity congenial, that criticising Israel can “never” be an expression of Jew-hating, not even when it takes the form of accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs...Howard Jacobson (The Independent, 27 May 2013)

What has happened to the 800,000 Jews who lived for over 2000 years in the Arab lands ...? Where are they in Arab society today? You dare talk of racism when I can point with pride ... to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Chaim Herzog (6 Kislev 5736; 10 November 1975)

I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews.... I defend their right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time. And, disgusted by the antisemitism of many Europeans ... I am shamed by this shame that dishonours my country and Europe.Oriana Fallaci

For Western countries to side with those who question Israel's legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel's vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values, rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude. Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is lost and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Jose Maria Aznar

Israel is, for us, a normal and a special country. A normal country, because it is just like any other democracy. A special country, because the Jewish culture, which eventually became the Judeo-Christian culture of the dignity of man, is the conceptual foundation of liberalism and democracy. This is why attacking Israel is tantamount to attacking Europe and the West. This is also why disputing Israel's legitimacy and its right to existence means questioning democracy. And this is why we are Friends of Israel. By defending Israel, we are defending ourselves.Marcello Pera

Israel ... is beset today by a unique combination of threats. It must defend its people from attack while defending its very right to exist. No other nation in the world faces this dual challenge. To deny Israel's right to confront some of the world's most vicious terrorist groups in order to ensure the safety of its citizens is to corrode international norms from within ... The assault on Israel is one part of a more general assault on the West, on democracy, and on the moral and cultural heritage that grew from the fruitful interaction of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome ... Should these efforts succeed, similar efforts will certainly be turned against other western democracies.George Weigel

Apart from America itself, Israel still stands as the world's brightest model of national self-liberation based on ideals of individual responsibility and human freedom. Israel's ability to withstand Arab attempts to destroy it in one of the longest and most lop-sided wars ever fought serves as an indelible testimony to the strength of democratic culture.... We know from the past that the West paid dearly for ignoring Hitler's war against the Jews. One can only hope it will not pay as dearly for having ignored or underestimated for so long the Arab war against Israel and the Jews. Ruth Wisse

The choice before us is not between victory and defeat, but between victory and annihilation. We therefore have not the slightest intention of allowing the re-creation of the conditions of vulnerability in which we found ourselves, abandoned and alone, in the summer of 1967. Diplomat Michael Comay (1970)

I am duty-bound to defend freedom, culture, peaceful coexistence, the civic education of children, and all the principles that the Tablets of the Law have rendered universal. Principles which Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. This means that, since I am a Gentile, a journalist and a leftist, I have a triple moral commitment to Israel. Because, if Israel were to be vanquished, modernity, culture and freedom would also be crushed. Even though the world has failed to wake up to this fact, Israel's struggle is the world's struggle. Pilar Rahola

About Me

I'm a writer/researcher, with many academic books and articles under my own name. Daphne Anson is my blogging alias. Combining the names of two ships, it's a moniker of special significance to me - I'm a naval history buff. I use an alias owing to a perceived need to keep my blogging and professional identities separate. An Aussie, I've long been interested in
politics and foreign affairs, having studied International Relations in the USA and Britain for my first degree, and I also hold a doctorate. I began blogging in response to the exponential rise in antisemitism and hostility to Israel in the wake of the Mavi Marmara affair.
Another reason I use an alias: http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2015/08/alias-two-ships-daphne-anson.html

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The spiritual awakening which Jews experienced almost without exception last June must not be allowed to become a sealed and finished episode.... Support must be rallied among men of goodwill and their governments if we are to reach that secure and just peace in the attainment of which Israel has never ceased to believe. President Zalman Shazar (1968)

Our judicial system is one of the best in the whole world. Our democracy is the only one in the Middle East.... Just imagine, what would have happened if the Arabs had, like us, accepted the Partition resolution? There would be a Palestinian State living side by side in peace, security, and, I can add, prosperity with the State of Israel, 62 years later. [C]ome to Israel, and realize how small Israel is and what a wonderful place it is. Diplomat Gabriella Shalev (2010)

Israel's Arab citizens are the only Arabs in the Middle East who enjoy genuine civic and religious rights. Religious freedom is protected in Israel as nowhere else, tragically, in the Middle East. And civil rights, of course, there's a supreme court judge who is an Arab, ministers including in my government who are Arabs, Druze, and members of parliament who are Arabs and so on. I would like to see more involvement of Arabs in civil life.Bibi Netanyahu on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show (5 Nov. 2017)